The Eastern New Mexico baseball team rallied back to win game one 6-5 on a walk-off before their second rally of the day fell short 13-12 to Cameron at Greyhound Field on Saturday.
In the first game of the day, Eastern (7-5) fought back from two down in the bottom of the seventh by scoring three runs, capped off on a Malcolm Boehm sacrifice fly to score Luidinson Hidalgo to pull out the 6-5 walk-off victory.
The second game of the doubleheader wasn’t so kind for Eastern as they found themselves down 13-7 in the sixth inning, but battled back with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a one-run game. However, the Hounds couldn’t push across the game-tying run as the Aggies (7-10) escaped with the 13-12 win.
Cameron got off to a fast start in the opening game of the doubleheader, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning to grab the early advantage. The Aggies added an insurance run in the fourth inning to take their largest lead of the game at 5-0.
In the Hounds half of the fourth, Miles Hilton got the ENMU bats going with a single to left field to score Joel Paulino to put the deficit back to four.
Eastern added one more in the bottom of the fifth on a squeeze play by Paul Tapia, scoring Joseph Zubia from third to make it a 5-2 game.
The Greyhounds kept chipping away in the bottom of the sixth as Malcolm Smith slapped a double down the left field line that set up Malcolm Boehm for an RBI single to right to drive him to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Aggies managed to get their leadoff man aboard on an ENMU error, but Liam Sabiston stopped the threat by recording a pair of strikeouts in-between a popout to get out of the inning.
In the final frame, the first two Greyhounds reached, setting up Nicholas Ankerman who laid down a bunt to score Elijah Cappello pinch running for Paul Tapia and the Hounds advanced runners to second and third when CU pitcher Hayden Jaco overthrew the catcher trying to nab the runner at the plate.
Following a pitching change, Hidalgo and Hilton drew back-to-back walks to push a run across, tying the game at five with still no one out. The Aggies managed to get a force out at home in Smith’s at-bat, but Boehm helped put the game away when he slashed a liner to the right fielder that was deep enough to score Hidalgo from third and end the game in walk-off.
The Hounds scored their six runs on eight hits and recorded two errors while the Aggies’ five runs came on seven hits to go with three errors.
Paulino was one of two Hounds to record multiple hits, reaching base four times by going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run. Zubia also recorded a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 and a run scored. Boehm and Hilton each finished with a pair of RBIs. Joel Torres took a no-decision in the start, throwing three innings and giving up five runs, three earned on six hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Sabiston was outstanding in relief for the Hounds, getting his first win of the season after throwing four shutout innings and giving up just one hit and three walks while striking out four.
The second game of the doubleheader was a back-and-forth battle as the Greyhounds scratched across a run first in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double from Nicholas Ankerman to make it a 1-0 Hounds edge.
Cameron retaliated with four runs in the top of the third inning to take its first lead of the ballgame at 4-1, but Eastern tied the game back up in the bottom of the third by scoring three runs on a Hidalgo two-RBI single to center as well as another RBI single from Ankerman to draw the match even at 4-4.
In the top of the fifth, Cameron recaptured the lead with a two-RBI triple from Colton Adams, but the Greyhounds once again put together a strong response with three runs in their part of the frame, starting with a Paulino RBI single as we would come around to score later in the inning on an Aggies error. Ankerman put the Hounds back in-front, tallying another RBI on a sac fly to left to push across Hidalgo once more to take back the 7-6 advantage.
The sixth inning was a big one for Cameron as they rallied with seven runs to take its largest lead of the ballgame at 13-7.
The Greyhounds wouldn’t go down without a fight as Eastern tallied five runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth off a Zubia two-RBI double, a Paulino RBI single, and a Blake Frye two-RBI triple to right center to close the gap to one.
Randall Lucero came in in the top of the seventh and kept the Hounds in the ballgame by retiring three straight, two of which on strikeouts, but Eastern struggled against the Aggies closer Chris Hansen, as he struck out the side to secure the win for the Aggies.
After scoring a season-high 11 runs on Friday night, the Hounds were one better in the second game of the doubleheader, tallying 12 runs on 13 hits with just one error, while the Aggies 13 runs came on 13 hits and recorded a pair of errors.
Ankerman put together a big game for the Hounds, tallying a season-high three hits by slashing 3-for-3 from the plate while also finishing with a season-best three RBIs and a run scored. Hidalgo was one of four Greyhound batters to tally two hits, while also scoring a season-high four runs to go with a pair of RBIs, while Zubia also crossed the plate three times after going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Ethan Coombes took the loss in relief after giving up four earned runs on three hits a walk and a strikeout in a third of an inning pitched.
The Greyhounds will seek a series win on Sunday as Eastern will wrap up the four game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch.